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This document describes results from the OHI 2016 global assessment.

Scores are broken down as follows:

  1. Description of reference datasets and figures
  2. The global picture
  3. A closer look at regions
  4. Change over time: five year trends in scores
  5. Comparison of assessment years (what’s changed do due to changes to models and/or data sources)
  6. A closer look at goals
  7. Additional checks

Description of reference datasets and figures

The following datasets and figures include the complete data for the OHI 2016 assessment.

Datasets (compiled for website)

Data files to generate content for the Ocean Health Index website.

Output files:

  • radical_date.csv. This file is also used to generate the tables and figures in this document.
    • File includes the EEZ (updated in 2012-2016), Antarctica (most recently calculated in 2015), and High Seas (most recently calculated in 2014) data. However, years 2012 and 2013 do not have Antarctica or High Seas data. And, the same High Seas and Antarctica data are used for years 2014, 2015, and 2016.
    • Region 0 is the global average scores, which are calculated using an area-weighted average of the scores (status, likely future state, and score dimensions) for EEZ, Antarctica, and High Seas regions.
    • Region 300 is the eez average scores, which are calculated using an area-weighted average of the scores (status, likely future state, and score dimensions) for the EEZ regions.
  • DataExplorer_eez2016_date.csv. This file includes only the 2016 data, and is used in the Data Explorer.

Figures that provide an overview of scores

This carpet plot figure (download as high resolution png) provides a full overview of the scores from the 2016 assessment. Each row represents a region, the main groupings represent goals, and within each goal there are 5 years of data. Black regions indicate no data.

Don’t try too hard to interpret the results for specific countries/goals/years!!

This plot is good for providing a quick overview of things like:

  • What is the range of scores?
  • Which goals tend to have high scores across most regions (species, habitat)
  • Which goals have a lot of variation across regions (tourism & recreation, lasting special places)
  • Which goals are volatile across years (natural products, tourism & recreation)

Another resource that can be useful for examining scores is this interactive plot. This can be used to (some example screen shots):

explore the distribution of scores

compare different goal scores

observe change over time

More figure resources

  • The location of maps describing goal and index scores can be downloaded from here
  • Flower plots for each region can be downloaded from here

The global picture

This section describes global patterns in index and goal scores. If you are more interested in what is happening at the region scale, skip to the next section.

Average global goal and index scores across years

(NOTE: Livelihood and economy goals are not included here)

Overall, there weren’t dramatic changes across years.

The Index score for 2016 (eez area weighted average of region scores) was: 71. The value did not statistically significantly vary from 2012 to 2016 (p = 0.16).

goal 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Index 71.18 71.57 71.14 71.10 70.73
Artisanal opportunities 76.76 77.11 77.34 77.39 77.43
Species condition (subgoal) 91.74 91.79 91.81 91.84 91.88
Biodiversity 90.93 91.19 91.24 91.22 91.29
Habitat (subgoal) 90.11 90.56 90.64 90.57 90.67
Coastal protection 87.84 87.72 87.68 87.62 87.29
Carbon storage 79.25 79.22 79.23 79.24 79.27
Clean water 74.15 73.68 73.61 73.51 73.50
Fisheries (subgoal) 53.54 53.83 53.80 53.22 53.67
Food provisioning 53.57 53.92 53.94 53.20 53.52
Mariculture (subgoal) 30.12 32.84 33.68 32.80 31.92
Iconic species (subgoal) 66.21 67.43 67.44 67.80 66.52
Sense of place 61.15 62.57 62.61 63.15 62.44
Lasting special places (subgoal) 56.10 57.72 57.78 58.51 58.37
Natural products 59.11 58.14 56.66 53.25 48.15
Tourism & recreation 49.92 48.66 45.26 48.12 49.17

Although, the overall index score did not statistically significantly change over time, several goals did have significant changes (based on a regression analysis of the average scores for each goal, although this should be considered a preliminary analysis). Here are some conclusions from this analysis (p values < 0.05 are considered to be statistically significant - i.e., “real” - effects):

Declining scores

  • Natural products declined by over 2.5 points per year on average (p = 0.013)
  • Coastal protection declined by 0.12 points per year on average (p = 0.03)
  • Clean waters declined by 0.15 points per year on average (but it was marginally non-significant, p = 0.056)

Improving scores

  • Lasting special places scores increased by an average of 0.5 points per year (p = 0.049)
  • Artisanal opportunities scores increased by just over 0.15 points per year (p = 0.03)
  • Species condition scores improved by a small, but statistically signficant, 0.03 points per year (p = < 0.01)
goal average_change_per_year p.value
Natural products -2.681 0.0129190
Tourism & recreation -0.204 0.7712939
Clean water -0.147 0.0562146
Index -0.137 0.1649325
Coastal protection -0.120 0.0271956
Food provisioning -0.082 0.4811645
Fisheries (subgoal) -0.035 0.7177309
Carbon storage 0.006 0.3985206
Species condition (subgoal) 0.033 0.0009580
Biodiversity 0.075 0.0749582
Iconic species (subgoal) 0.099 0.7088505
Habitat (subgoal) 0.113 0.1178020
Livelihoods 0.129 0.1769303
Artisanal opportunities 0.162 0.0268740
Sense of place 0.316 0.2122001
Mariculture (subgoal) 0.356 0.4865407
Lasting special places (subgoal) 0.533 0.0492258
Livelihoods & economies 0.710 0.1803461
Economies 1.293 0.1802132

A closer look at the regions

This section explores goal and index scores at the region level. I mostly focus on the 2016 scores.

Regional goal and index scores for 2016

This interactive table describes the index and goal scores for the regions in 2016 (and here’s a link to a color coded table, and a csv file can also be downloaded).

Distribution of scores

The median index score was 68.11. The highest score was 91 for Howland Island and Baker Island, and the lowest score was 44 for Sierra Leone.

The following histogram describes the distribution of overall index scores:

The regions with index scores of 80 or greater are:

country Index
Howland Island and Baker Island 90.92
Jarvis Island 90.09
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 87.92
Palmyra Atoll 85.47
Germany 85.33
Christmas Island 85.30
Seychelles 85.19
Northern Saint-Martin 83.79
Cocos Islands 83.43
New Caledonia 82.11
Heard and McDonald Islands 82.01
Crozet Islands 81.94
Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) 81.66
Kerguelen Islands 81.64
Macquarie Island 81.47
American Samoa 81.14
Aruba 80.97
Antigua and Barbuda 80.85
Norfolk Island 80.73
Glorioso Islands 80.45
Australia 80.10

The regions with index scores of 50 or less are:

country Index
Republique du Congo 48.97
Guinea Bissau 48.57
Liberia 47.77
Nicaragua 46.80
Democratic Republic of the Congo 46.77
Guinea 45.47
Ivory Coast 44.80
Sierra Leone 44.19
Libya 43.76

Map of index scores

Map png files can be downloaded here.

(Maps of goal scores are described below)

Comparing assessment years

The following is a comparison of the global status scores generated for 2015 by this year’s assessment vs. last year’s assessment.

If the models and source data remains the same, these scores should be exactly the same. Differences indicate changes in methods or source data (described in this downloadable document).

These changes do not reflect changes in actual system health!

Global averages

The following goals had the largest changes:

  • Artisanal opportunity (biggest change: +11 points): Reference point of need data adjusted to avoid scores being driven by outliers
  • Species condition/biodiversity (+8 points): Addition of bird species tended to increase status scores
  • Mariculture (+6 points): Changes to source data
  • Fisheries (-4 points): Decrease is due primarily to increase in number of stocks classified as “unidentified” in source data (plus, a lot of other changes)

The rest of the goals/subgoals changed by less than 3 points (on average, although regions might be highly variable).

goal assess2015 assess2016 change
Artisanal opportunities 62.92 73.53 10.61
Species condition (subgoal) 85.18 92.78 7.60
Biodiversity 86.52 90.44 3.92
Habitat (subgoal) 87.90 88.10 0.20
Coastal protection 85.64 85.53 -0.11
Carbon storage 78.42 78.42 0.00
Clean water 73.47 73.47 0.00
Economies 87.65 87.65 0.00
Livelihoods & economies 82.46 82.46 0.00
Livelihoods 77.28 77.28 0.00
Fisheries (subgoal) 54.91 50.48 -4.43
Food provisioning 54.25 50.50 -3.75
Mariculture (subgoal) 25.44 31.53 6.09
Iconic species (subgoal) 59.27 63.11 3.84
Sense of place 58.66 59.76 1.10
Lasting special places (subgoal) 58.54 56.41 -2.13
Natural products 48.71 50.91 2.20
Tourism & recreation 48.29 46.98 -1.31

Regional data

This color-coded table compares the 2015 index scores generated for each region/goal between this year’s and last year’s assessment.

Because these are index scores, changes reflect updates to pressure and resilience scores as well as status.

The following interactive plot provides an overview of how the 2015 scores changed between the 2015 and 2016 assessment for all goals and dimensions.

A closer look at goals

This section takes a closer look at each goal/subgoal. I do not include goals that are comprised of multiple subgoals, although the subgoals are described.

Artisanal opportunities

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Cayman Islands 100
United Arab Emirates 100
Qatar 100
United States 100
Bermuda 100
Kuwait 100
Norway 100
Ireland 100
Saudi Arabia 100
Brunei 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
211 Ivory Coast 46.35
212 Cameroon 45.62
213 Solomon Islands 45.07
214 Benin 44.48
215 Mozambique 44.28
216 Madagascar 43.97
217 Comoro Islands 43.85
218 Togo 42.92
219 Guinea 42.86
220 Liberia 42.55

Species condition

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Sint Maarten 98.06
Sint Eustatius 98.04
Saba 98.01
Ascension 98.00
Saint Helena 97.99
Curacao 97.98
Dominica 97.98
Northern Saint-Martin 97.97
Montserrat 97.97
Guadeloupe and Martinique 97.96

Bottom 10 performers

country score
211 Malaysia 82.70
212 Eritrea 82.37
213 East Timor 82.28
214 Libya 82.05
215 Singapore 81.98
216 Cambodia 81.46
217 Oecussi Ambeno 81.24
218 Sudan 80.70
219 Myanmar 80.58
220 Iraq 79.68

Habitat

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Jarvis Island 100
Heard and McDonald Islands 100
Kerguelen Islands 100
Macquarie Island 100
Norfolk Island 100
Wallis and Futuna 100
Pitcairn 100
Ascension 100
British Indian Ocean Territory 100
Madeira 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
208 Mauritania 63.94
209 Belize 62.63
210 Sierra Leone 62.56
211 Dominica 62.45
212 Democratic Republic of the Congo 62.19
213 Senegal 60.04
214 Poland 59.93
215 Ivory Coast 58.34
216 Jan Mayen 53.98
217 Iceland 53.77

Coastal protection

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Howland Island and Baker Island 100
Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) 100
Netherlands 100
Tuvalu 100
Wallis and Futuna 100
Pitcairn 100
British Indian Ocean Territory 100
Saba 100
Belgium 100
Denmark 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
161 Ivory Coast 32.81
162 Sierra Leone 31.47
163 Guinea 31.32
164 Senegal 30.34
165 Guinea Bissau 30.27
166 Democratic Republic of the Congo 30.27
167 Nicaragua 30.12
168 Lithuania 29.49
169 Dominica 26.60
170 Belize 23.79

Carbon storage

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Germany 100
Seychelles 100
Northern Saint-Martin 100
Netherlands 100
Russia 100
Saba 100
Belgium 100
Denmark 100
Estonia 100
Sint Maarten 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
139 Liberia 34.26
140 Senegal 33.51
141 Guinea 32.95
142 Ivory Coast 32.73
143 Sierra Leone 32.54
144 Guinea Bissau 30.54
145 Democratic Republic of the Congo 30.22
146 Barbados 27.19
147 Dominica 26.83
148 Nicaragua 9.75

Clean waters

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Heard and McDonald Islands 99.71
Falkland Islands 98.95
Bouvet Island 98.91
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 98.89
Kerguelen Islands 98.78
Jarvis Island 97.85
Macquarie Island 97.51
Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) 96.83
Howland Island and Baker Island 96.71
Crozet Islands 96.58

Bottom 10 performers

country score
211 Guatemala 33.13
212 Israel 32.65
213 Belgium 32.41
214 India 29.17
215 Benin 28.87
216 Lebanon 28.62
217 Slovenia 28.38
218 Togo 28.22
219 Monaco 24.41
220 Gibraltar 19.79

Fisheries

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Tuvalu 96.05
Nauru 95.78
Palau 94.71
Mayotte 91.25
Oecussi Ambeno 91.15
Finland 90.06
Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) 89.58
Solomon Islands 88.80
Maldives 88.55
Seychelles 88.15

Bottom 10 performers

country score
211 Guadeloupe and Martinique 19.60
212 Barbados 17.59
213 Amsterdam Island and Saint Paul Island 17.49
214 Mauritania 16.67
215 Guinea 16.64
216 Western Sahara 15.77
217 Wake Island 12.50
218 Turks and Caicos Islands 9.15
219 Jan Mayen 6.50
220 Bouvet Island 2.94

Mariculture

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Russia 100.00
Ecuador 100.00
New Zealand 100.00
Chile 100.00
Norway 100.00
China 100.00
Faeroe Islands 100.00
Iceland 99.02
Belize 94.05
Canada 71.55

Bottom 10 performers

country score
116 Solomon Islands 0
117 Micronesia 0
118 Kuwait 0
119 Yemen 0
120 Uruguay 0
121 Cook Islands 0
122 Kenya 0
123 Nigeria 0
124 Eritrea 0
125 Libya 0

Iconic species

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Cayman Islands 100
United Arab Emirates 100
Qatar 100
United States 100
Bermuda 100
Kuwait 100
Norway 100
Ireland 100
Saudi Arabia 100
Brunei 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
211 Ivory Coast 46.35
212 Cameroon 45.62
213 Solomon Islands 45.07
214 Benin 44.48
215 Mozambique 44.28
216 Madagascar 43.97
217 Comoro Islands 43.85
218 Togo 42.92
219 Guinea 42.86
220 Liberia 42.55

Lasting special places

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Howland Island and Baker Island 100
Jarvis Island 100
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands 100
Palmyra Atoll 100
Germany 100
Northern Saint-Martin 100
Heard and McDonald Islands 100
Crozet Islands 100
Phoenix Islands (Kiribati) 100
Kerguelen Islands 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
211 Jordan 0
212 Bouvet Island 0
213 Togo 0
214 Benin 0
215 Iraq 0
216 Syria 0
217 Sudan 0
218 Eritrea 0
219 Liberia 0
220 Libya 0

Natural products

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
New Caledonia 99.98
Mozambique 99.80
Suriname 99.69
India 98.69
Iran 98.03
Trinidad and Tobago 97.45
French Polynesia 96.84
Italy 96.26
Germany 95.78
Latvia 95.78

Bottom 10 performers

country score
119 Honduras 0
120 Brunei 0
121 Cyprus 0
122 Faeroe Islands 0
123 Montenegro 0
124 Sao Tome and Principe 0
125 Equatorial Guinea 0
126 Dominica 0
127 Algeria 0
128 Republique du Congo 0

Tourism and recreation

Scores

Top 10 performers

country score
Seychelles 100
Northern Saint-Martin 100
Aruba 100
Antigua and Barbuda 100
Curacao 100
Malta 100
Vanuatu 100
Bahamas 100
Saba 100
Sint Maarten 100

Bottom 10 performers

country score
195 Democratic Republic of the Congo 1.95
196 Yemen 0.00
197 Ukraine 0.00
198 Iraq 0.00
199 Syria 0.00
200 Turkey 0.00
201 Somalia 0.00
202 North Korea 0.00
203 Lebanon 0.00
204 Libya 0.00

Additional checks

This table describes the years of data that were used for each goal for each assessment year.

Years used in analysis
goals eez_2012 eez_2013 eez_2014 eez_2015 eez_2016
AO 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
SPP NA NA NA NA NA
BD NA NA NA NA NA
HAB NA NA NA NA NA
CP NA NA NA NA NA
CS NA NA NA NA NA
CW NA NA NA NA NA
ECO 20102000 20112000 20122000 20122000 20122000
LE NA NA NA NA NA
LIV 20102000 20112000 20122000 20122000 20122000
FIS 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
FP NA NA NA NA NA
MAR 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
ICO 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
SP NA NA NA NA NA
LSP 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
NP 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
TR 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014